The Franken campaign is laying out its response to Norm Coleman's court request for how to conduct his lawsuit against the election result, which would involve a series of five mini-trials to individually test his various claims. Their answer: Let's have a regular trial instead.

In a conference call just now with reporters, lead Franken attorney Marc Elias said the campaign is filing their own proposed schedule that will use a conventional single trial -- which Elias said is consistent with the law -- in which Coleman could call witnesses and present evidence, and then would rest his case. Whereas the final one of Coleman's mini-trials would begin in late February, Elias said his own schedule could end by that point.

The problem here, Elias said, is that Coleman hasn't actually presented real evidence or much of a case so far, and is instead seeking to use these multiple trials as a venue to find something.

"We believe that Norm Coleman has a right to go to court, okay, because that's in the law," said Elias. "We don't believe that he has a right to delay, to use the process of going to court to delay the people of Minnesota from having representation in the United States Senate. Nor do we believe that he has a right to have his court challenge proceed in a multi-phase process that will span week after week after week, in an effort for him to try to turn up a rock some place and find some evidence."